La Liga: Atlético 0 – 0 Mallorca

Fans get to celebrate Copa trophy, but no goals

Atlético Madrid and Real Mallorca shared the points in the penultimate round of the 2012-2013 La Liga campaign.

In Los Rojiblancos’ final home game of the season, captain Gabi presented the Copa del Rey trophy to the home crowd.

On their way onto the pitch, the team was welcomed by a guard of honour from Mallorca, as pictured on the right.

Throughout the game there were several chances for both sides to score, but the goalkeepers did a great job today to keep the scoreboard empty.

Early on, Mallorca’s Javi Márquez had two opportunities from exactly the same spot, but first he was denied by Courtois, and his second attempt was off target.

It took Atleti until the end of the first half to become dangerous. Filipe Luis delivered two excellent crosses to Diego Costa, but he headed his first opportunity wide, and the Brazilian was called back for offside on his other try. Falcao also wasn’t able to beat the excellent Dudu Aouate with a header.

At the start of the second half Thibaut Courtois showed off some of the heroics that have earned him high praise all season, when he tipped a curling free kick by Giovani wide for a corner. Tibu then caught a header by Víctor, as Atleti’s normally solid defence seemed to suffer from a minor lapse in concentration.

From that point on it was all Atleti, as the Colchoneros looked to say goodbye to their fans with a victory at home. Godín headed wide, but the biggest opportunity of the night was for Diego Costa. After an excellent attacking move by Atlético, the ball was played in to the Beast, who beat three opponents but ultimately couldn’t get past Aouate.

Costa again came close to scoring a few minutes later when Adrián slipped him a subtle through pass, but Diego could only get a slight touch on it, which wasn’t enough to beat Mallorca’s ‘keeper.

In the 74th minute Koke seemed to finally break the deadlock, but on the goal-line Radamel Falcao tapped the midfielder’s shot into the back of the net. The Colombian’s unneeded final touch, however, came from an offside position.

It really wasn’t Falcao’s night. Costa gave him a chance to make up for the disallowed goal, but El Tigre wildly chipped the ball past both Aouate and Mallorca’s goal.

In the final minutes there was a lot of space for Mallorca. The islanders desperately needed a win, but weren’t able to create any chances from their quick breaks. A header by Mario Suárez was the final attempt in a match that ended as it began: 0-0.